Is perfectionism always a good thing?

08 Jul 2016 • by Kim Morgan

Perfectionism has traditionally been seen as a positive quality in the workplace.

But is perfectionism always a good thing, at work or in our social lives?

Healthy perfection

A healthy amount of perfectionism means that we set high standards for ourselves, but we are also able to adjust our standards to meet the demands of a situation. When our perfectionist tendencies are in balance, we can be satisfied by and derive pleasure from what we have achieved and can sometimes achieve things which we never thought possible.

Overdone perfectionism, however, can limit our own performance and can have a negative impact on the effective functioning of groups, teams and the performance of our colleagues and reports.

When perfectionism is overdone, we are unable to adjust our standards to the context. Consequently we don’t experience pleasure or satisfaction from our achievements because we are never able to live up to the exacting standards we have set for ourselves. Setting constantly unrealistic standards for ourselves can lead to any or all of the following:

• Burnout
• Avoidance or procrastination
• Being over-critical of others
• Micro-management of others
• Fear of failure
• Being defensive when criticised
• Covering up or denying mistakes

Perfectionism can take a variety of different forms. You can be a ‘self-oriented perfectionist’, which means that you apply strict standards to your own performance and engage in overly critical self-evaluation. You can be an ‘other-oriented perfectionist’, setting unrealistically high standards for others - partners, colleagues, children or direct reports and constantly criticising their performances. Sometimes you can be both – beating others with the same stick you use to beat yourself.

If you recognise some of these traits in yourself, you will probably also recognize and experience the high levels of stress which come with these traits.